Guest Speaker for the evening was Russell Ford who shared his journey so far.
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The Life and Times of Russell Ford
By Special Guest Reporter Rotarian Ian Haughton
     At our last meeting our Guest speaker was unavailable so our Bulletin Editor, Russell Ford stepped in at short notice and told us his “life story”.
     I was so impressed with his talk and presentation, as were others on our table that I asked if I could write it up for the Bulletin; because I knew modesty would prevent Russell from doing justice to his own work.
Russell commenced his talk with a lecture.
Yes a lecture:……. At Rotary:
     What followed was a ten minute, passionate and well explained “lecture” on the work of a psychology professor called Abraham Maslow and his theory “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs”.
     With examples of how these needs effect people at different times of their lives Russell went on to explain how this theory formed the basis of how he related to the children he taught and to how he worked with them and parents in his later roles in counselling and mediation.
He stressed the importance of focusing on the positive qualities in people, as opposed to treating them as a "bag of symptoms.”
Then the life story part began.
     He commenced with a “proof” of his only available baby photo.
Proof because his family had been unable to afford to buy the full Sized photograph and proof that he was a cute little kid,
   Born on Jan 23rd 1952 he was a hefty 13 pound baby on a 109 degrees day and he suspects his mother may have harboured some resentment at this.
    1957 was a big year for Russell. They got a television. Russell remembers this like it was yesterday, but he struggles to remember the arrival of his sister Paula who arrived the same year. I suspect Paula might harbour some resentment about this.
     He also discovered around this time that he was related to half of Longwarry as he had a large extended family and many cousins.
     Whilst at Primary School in Longwarry Russell had a teacher called Ted Logan, who inspired him to become a Primary Teacher. 
     Russell went on to outline his education at Drouin High School from 1963 to 1968 and then on to Geelong Teachers College where he was elected to the Student Representative Council, President of the SRC and later a representative on the College Academic Board.
     He met his future wife, referred to as the “Minister for War” at Geelong Teachers College and ignoring the advice of his father, which was “Son make some young girl happy ….. stay single!” They were married in 1974 when he assumed the title “Minister for Defence”. Despite counselling and possibly because of it the war (aka the marriage) ended in 1980.
     Russell taught at Kensington, Cloverlea, Braybrook, Ardeer and Footscray West Primary Schools over a 35 year teaching career reaching the rank of Acting Principal.
     He was heavily involved in the Teachers Unions and is very proud of his role and achievements during this time. [As someone who also taught during this era I am very thankful for people like Russell who took on these arduous roles to fight for the improvement in public education.]
     During his career he became a passionate worker in the area of Student Welfare and was extensively in student counselling and family mediation.
     Russell’s football career spanned over 30 years. His playing career which included a premiership terminated after a disagreement with his coach.
“I thought I could play footy but my coach didn’t”.
     Over this 30 year span he performed  a range of administrative roles with Collingwood, Under 19’s/Northern Knights/Calder Cannons/VFL, was  President Preston Bullants/Eastern Ranges/ Western Bulldogs. He listed a number of famous names with whom he made lasting friendships during this time.
     He is a passionate Doggies supporter and his joy during the 2016 Final series was a delight to see.
     Retiring in 2006 he continued to do some replacement teaching and later some consultancy and training work with Monash University.
     Russell’s father died suddenly in 1976 and his mother died around the time Russell returned to Longwarry to live in 2012.
His hobbies and interests include:
  • Wine collection, storage and drinking thereof
  • The Western Bulldogs
  • Horse Racing – (No longer as an owner.)
  • Reading/ Historical Research
  • Wine collection, storage and drinking thereof
  • Rotary Club of Drouin
  • Associate Member of theLongwarry Sub-Branch. of The R.S.L
  • “Living proof that age can weary and the years can condemn
     
    President of the Longwarry and District History Group  and Program Broadcaster on 3BBR FM
Thank you Russell, not only for filling in at short notice, but for giving such an interesting and well prepared presentation.
Russell with Chair Tricia and President Sharryn